Which is more impressive? A 780 on math lv1 or an 800 on math lv 2?

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

<p>Just curious...</p>

2

<p>I’d say an 800 on Math II.</p>

3

<p>800 on II
10char</p>

4

<p>To me, 780 on Math Level 1. About 13 times as many people get 800 on Level 2 than get 780+ on Level 1.</p>

5

<p>There’s a percentile chart created by CB linking scores to percentiles: <a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools;

<p>But, I think that a perfect score is always more impressive than a not-perfect score, regardless of the percentile ranks.</p>

6

<p>^ That link is from a few years ago. Here is the more recent one:</p>

<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/SAT-Subject-Test-Percentile-Ranks-2009.pdf[/url]”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/SAT-Subject-Test-Percentile-Ranks-2009.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>780 on Math 1 might be a better job
but I guess 800 looks much better on your resume?
Just send them both</p>

8

<p>I totally understand where Silverturtle is coming from, but I’m not sure I agree. When you compare Math I and Math II, you see that Math II covers more material, so I can’t see how a 780 on Math I is more favorable than a perfect score on Math II. I realize more people get an 800 on the latter test, but that doesn’t make it any easier- these tests are, after all, self-selecting. Math II just has a nicer curve because it is conceptually more difficult; the easier the test, the harsher the curve.</p>

9

<p>math level 1 is tougher to get an 800 because the curve is so much tougher; i think it’s more similar to the math on SAT ones. but in terms of impressiveness, you should take the math IIC because colleges look at it as more challenging because it covers a wider scope of mathematics material.</p>

10

<p>780 math 1 is more impressive, the curve is worse on math 1, but both are great and colleges dnt worry bout curves they just look at the score.</p>

11

<p>The curve is tougher on Math I because the material is easier. Math II you have to know more, and it shows that you’re at a higher math lvl. That’s why a lot of engineering schools want prospective students to take Math II. So Math II is better in my opinion.</p>

12

<p>Perfect on Math II is better.</p>

13

<p>Here are my thoughts on this:</p>

<p>You take Math 1 if you’re not confident in your math abilities, right? So… The “less intelligent” people take that test. With that in mind, aren’t the “less intelligent” people bound to do worse on the test? </p>

<p>The “smarter” people gravitate towards the Math 2 test, hence the skewed %ile range. The people who take this test know they will do well on the test.</p>

<p>I cite Chinese with listening as an analogy. Only 57% of test takers <em>don’t</em> get an 800. How does one explain this? Simple: Only the people who are fluent in Chinese decide to take the test; not some average Joe who took a semester of the language.</p>

14

<p>^ Of course self-selection plays a role. It does not seem to be sufficient to compensate for the extent of the gap, though.</p>

15

<p>“Impressive” is such a subjective term though. Anyway, I’ll take the 800 mathII over a 800 mathI any day.</p>

16

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes, which is why I said “To me.”</p>

17

<p>@silverturtle: besides that different people may have different personal preferences and opinions, I also meant that the word “impressive” itself can be interpreted in multiple ways. the 780 on mathI may be harder to get because of the harsher curve and hence achieved by a smaller percentage of test takers, but that to me is not something that’s “impressive”. we probably have different definitions for the word “impressiveness” - to me, mastering harder math concepts is much more impressive. avoiding carelessness when taking tests, which is what many with high scores in mathII need to perform equally well on the other test, is something that should be taken for granted - not that impressive at all.</p>

18

<p>clearly an 800 on math 2 is better.</p>

<ol>
<li>harder test…</li>
<li>higher numerical score…</li>
<li>although you can be in the 90th percentile and get an 800 on math 2, you can also be in the 99th percentile with an 800… this is not so with a 780 on math 1. plus, colleges do not even see the percentile rank.</li>
</ol>

19

<p>

</p>

<p>What do you mean?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>No, they do see the percentiles.</p>

20

<p>I’d prefer an 800 on Math 2 over a 780 on Math 1 because Math 2 is more important (covering more material) and because it leaves open the possibility that I did perfectly on the test. Actually, I know that I didn’t get everything perfect (since I left two questions blank), but since I scored 800, nobody has to know that I failed some of the questions. :)</p>

<p>The percentile of 780 on Math 1 is higher than the percentile of 800 on Math 2; HOWEVER, the population of students taking Math 2 instead of Math 1 is self-selective (similarly to those who take spoken language tests), so 89th percentile of Math 2 takers is likely better than 98th percentile of Math 1 takers.</p>